RIVALRIES

ANDREW OEUNG - Editor-in-Chief, 4th Year, EECS

"Wants to go to Round1"

Originally published on Sept. 20, 2018

Warning: Mild Spoilers for My Hero Academia and Naruto

My friend was horrified during Bakugo’s capture in Boku no Hero Academia. In the third season of Boku no Hero Academia, Bakugo is kidnapped by villains during summer training and is held captive by the likes of Shigaraki Tomura.

“He’s going to end up like Sasuke!” he lamented. Umm, what? And where did you get that idea?

Naruto and Boku no Hero Academia have a lot of similarities, but the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke and the rivalry between Midoriya and Bakugo are markedly different. Still, it seems like a lot of people misconstrue the dynamic in Boku no Hero Academia.

Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry was a central plot point in Naruto. It was primarily driven by two conflicting desires: friendship and revenge. But after centering this issue in the forefront in the Sasuke Retrieval arc, it becomes an afterthought in Naruto Shippuden. Naruto and Sasuke almost never interact with each other, and they both grow independently from their own experiences. Naruto’s selfless goal of protecting the village contrasts greatly with Sasuke’s selfish pursuit of power and vengeance. At this point, their rivalry begins to lose meaning. How can they compete against one another when they hardly interact with each other? By definition, a rivalry involves competition for the same objective or for a notion of superiority. In Naruto Shippuden, Sasuke and Naruto do not have the same goals in mind. Later on, Sasuke wants to become Hokage as well, but I honestly feel that his reasoning is a bit farfetched and forced. Some of the shoehorned plot points regarding Naruto and Sasuke largely contribute to a tenuous and shaky rivalry between the two ninjas. However, with a bit of context, it’s easy to explain why: the author, Masashi Kishimoto, never intended to have a rival for Naruto. Sasuke was only created because of his editor!

What about Midoriya and Bakugo? Both of them have the same, concrete goal. They both want to surpass All Might and become the world’s greatest hero. Midoriya perceives heroism as saving others at all costs, while Bakugo sees heroism as pure strength and power. Even when Bakugo is captured by villains, Bakugo’s pride and conviction in his dream to become the number one hero allow him to easily reject them, unlike Sasuke. Sasuke sided with Orochimaru because it coincided with his goals; but Bakugo has nothing to gain by siding with Shigaraki. How could he become the number one hero as a villain?

Naruto and Boku no Hero Academia share similarities in protagonists and worlds, but overall these two rivalries do not feel the same. Hopefully, audiences will stop likening Midoriya and Bakugo to Naruto and Sasuke. I mean, it’s not like we see Midoriya using the Rasengan and Bakugo using the Chidori!